The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1887-02-23

walker had escaped from the tight,
breaking out Of the grove and riding off
on a horse lust as the conflict closed in.
Men belonging to the Overland had met
and talked with him east of Kearney He
had three wounds, but seemed uncon
scious Of them as he briefly related the
story of the fight, and vowed that he
would have the lives of five Indians for
every white person who had perished.
Nothing further was heard of him until
June of the following year. was then
in Government employ as a scout and de
spatch rider, and was on the Smoky Hill
Fork of the Kansas River, twenty miles
west of Fort Mcpherson. riding with two
other scouts, when we came upon Grim
Walker. He had gone east after the
massacre, and had built for himself a
bullet-proof wagon. 1t was great cage
on wheels, and everything about it was
made of iron. Wheels, box, bottom,
top-every part of it was bullet proof.
1t was pierced or loopholed in fifty places
for musketry, ventilated at the top, and
was drawn by four mules. The man
must have had considerable means at his
disposal to pay for a vehicle like that
and he had come all the way from Coun-
Gil Bluffs alone The interior was fitted
up with sleeping berth, iron tanks for
holding food and water, and he had come
back to the plains to keep his vow. But
for his grimness the idea would have
raised laugh. He must have been en-
route for many long days, and he GER
tainly had passed through many perils.
We heard afterward that as he reached
the fort one afternoon, and it became
Nl,N l. I
effort was made to dissuade him For
a time he was silent-grim-deaf. Then.
he pointed to the northeast and said
There lie the bones of my children
and friends, and 1 will not rest until 1
have avenged them twice over"
They told him the country was alive
with host1les, and that every rod of the
way was beset with perils; but as the
sun went down he harnessed his mules
to the iron tongue, climbed into the sad
die, and without nod of farewell to any
one he rode to the west in the gathering
gloom-more grim, more determined,
more of devil than human being. He
had travelled good share of the night
over country in which death lurked in
every ravine, but the watchful savages
had not espied him. lie had travelled
until mid-afternoon next day along
trail where savages Outnumbered the
snakes twenty to one, but somehow they
had missed him. We were riding at full
speed for the fort, keeping the shelter of
the dry ravines and the valleys, and ex-
pecting at any moment to be pursued,
when we ran upon Grim Walker. His
wagon stood on the open prairie, at least
half mile from the river and the shelter
of the cottonwoods. The four mules had
been embarrassed and turned out to
Craze, and the man was cooking his sup
per at a campfire, the smoke of which
would draw Indians for ten miles around.
Our astonishment when we found him
there alone kept us dumb for few min
utes. We sat on our horses and stared
at him, and he greeted our presence by
a mere nod. When | recognized him as
Grim Walker l began to suspect the
enterprise he had on foot, and after
had put few questions he briefly ex-
planned:
81 am here to kill Indians. You can
look my wagon over if you want to-"
1t was what have described. He had
a barrel or more of fresh water, lot of
flour and meat, small stove to cook
on, and perfect arsenal of firearms. 1t
was evident that the Indians could not
get at him with bullets nor tomahawk
nor fire. and it would take weeks to
starve him out. There was only one
thing that troubled the man. His stock
would be killed off at once when he was
attacked, and he would then have no way
of moving his wagon. We helped him
out of his dilemma by agreeing to take
the animals to the Fort The harnesses
were piled into his house, and it was un-
derstood that he would come for the
mules when he wanted them He had q
compass, and we gave him the exact
bearings, and as we rode away he was
preparing to toast another piece of meat,
seeming utterly uncOncerned over the
dangers of his surroundings. As to what
happened him during the next three
weeks l had few meagre details from
his own lips, but plenty of information
from warriors who afterward became
"friendly.' That is. when licked out
OF their boots half dozen times, their
villages destroyed, many of their ponies
shot, and their squaws and children
driven to temporary starvation, they
cried for peace in order to recruit and
make ready for another campaign.
The campfire which Grim Walker built
saved the three Of us from being am
bushed. A warrior told me that forty
savages were between us and the fort
when the smoke led them to believe that
a large party of immigrants must be
camped in the bottoms. 1t could only
be large party which would dare build
such a fire in hostile country. The
warriors were all drawn off by signal to
attack the larger game, and before sun
down that evening two hundred murder
Gus redskins were opening their eyes
very wide at the site of the one lone
wagon anchored on the prairie under
their noses. How did it get there
Where were the horses or mules2 Was
it occupied They must have asked
themselves these questions over and over
again, but there stood the wagon, grim,
silent, mysterious. The whole band
finally moved down for a closer inspec-
tion, believing the vehicle had been
abandoned, and hopeful that something
in the shape of plumber had been left
behind. They had come close-they
had entirely surrounded the vehicle